The Secret's In the Margins
by Echoing Fantasy
Summary: College!AU. Tsuna shares Home Economics with a handsome teen named Reborn. At some point, he ends up crushing on the guy, but decides not to say anything. Unfortunately, those doodles in his notebook might just be the death of his silence yet. R27. Oneshot.


_The Secret's In the Margins_

College was a little bit like Hell, and a little bit like Heaven.

In some corners, one would find students looking like zombies, cups of coffee in their hands and dark circles under their eyes as they focused for whatever crucial part of the exams was coming up. If asked about their experience in college, they would reply that it was utterly exhausting, and they had no time for anything (or anyone) else.

In other corners though, you would find people smiling happily, chattering away with their friends about the latest assignments, sharing and comparing notes about classes, and sometimes even getting into the middle of a good debate over things. These were the people that did __not __assume college would be a complete cakewalk, that they would have __plenty of time __for that assignment and thus put if off to the last second like they did in high school.

Tsuna happened to belong to the latter category. While his grades in high school had never been perfect, they'd been good enough for him to be accepted into one of the minor colleges near Namimori, about an hour's drive away. He was taking three classes; one in Home Economics, another in Social Sciences, and a third in Nursing. All of them were classes that required his utmost attention, and no slacking off. Despite the rough pace though, he managed to keep ahead of the curve just enough for him to be able to go to sleep each night with no worries on his mind.

Another fellow that fit in the latter category was Tsuna's lone acquaintance at the college, an older teenager by the name of Reborn. He was a bit of an odd fellow, both in appearance and mannerisms, always wearing a crisp white shirt with black pants, his sideburns long and curly - a feature Tsuna had never seen before. He was certainly attractive enough to garner the female attention, if the number of girls that tried to catch him between classes or sat next to him during class was any indication.

Despite that, he never paid them any attention. Tsuna had been close enough once to hear him dismiss the females that flocked around him with curt responses. He was never anything more than polite to the people that talked to him, although that politeness did seem to extend out a bit to friends and people he actually enjoyed the company of. Tsuna had met him during his first year, when he'd accidentally stumbled into him coming down the stairs and spilled hot coffee all over the both of them. After apologizing and paying for both the laundering of his shirt and a new coffee, he and Reborn had got to talking.

It turned out they shared a class in Home Economics. Reborn, like him, was a diligent note-taker and preferred keeping his grades above the curve. It was pleasant meeting someone that was so like him, but so ordinary at the same time. They had regular conversations after that, all of them about classes and notes, but Tsuna didn't mind. Because with each conversation, he got to see a little bit more of Reborn, and learn a bit more about him.

By the end of the second year, Tsuna was crushing harder on him than he had any other person - even his first crush, and now friend, Kyoko. He was fortunate that Reborn never seemed to notice Tsuna glancing at him when they took notes, or when the teacher went over things they already knew and Tsuna had no need to take notes for. When that happened, Tsuna would doodle in the margins of his notebook, little things that wouldn't look out of place if he ever had to turn his notes in.

But gradually, those doodles turned into something more. Somehow one day, one doodle became a hand, and then an arm, and then a shoulder. And suddenly there was a miniature Reborn in his margins, dressed in one of his crisp shirts with a mocking look on his face - one of the many Tsuna had seen him make during the school year.

That one in particular had been directed at a boyfriend of one of the girls that had flocked to him; the boy had puffed up and tried to get in a fight with him to show how much more of a man __he __was compared to Reborn, only for Reborn to floor him with one easy kick. Although in the boy's defense, Tsuna hadn't known Reborn could lift his leg that high either, especially in those rather fitting jeans he always seemed to wear.

One Reborn doodle became two, and then three, four, five, ten, twenty. All lined in the margins of his book between notes, little secrets that told of what he'd seen that day. It was fortunate that by the time the book was almost filled, it was tilting towards exams, and the teachers no longer requested the notes to read and make sure students were keeping up.

And then one day, the doodles didn't happen. It was the day Reborn wasn't in class. Tsuna still took notes, still kept above the curve, even as he wondered if Reborn was okay. Maybe there was a family emergency or something going on? Well, it didn't matter. It wasn't his business anyway. He might have a crush on Reborn, but that crush had yet to show any signs of being reflected back at him - better to remain silent than to be crushed by a crush.

At four-fifty-two three mornings later though, he got a call from an unknown number. Having been in the process of waking up with his first cup of coffee and buckling down to study, Tsuna frowned as he got up and answered the phone. "Hello?"

__"Tsuna, that you?"__

Reborn's voice jerked him out of his studying haze. "Reborn?"

__"Yo. Hey listen, do you have the notes from the last three days? I need to borrow them."__

"Uh, of course! B-but are you okay? You're not hurt or anything, are you?" He tried not to let his worry seep through, although wasn't it normal to worry about someone he talked to regularly?

Reborn sniffed, and for the first time Tsuna heard the congestion in his voice. __"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got a head-cold from someone in my other classes. Nurse said it'll be gone in the next couple of days, but I'd rather not come back in to class early and risk getting everyone else sick. You're the only other person I know that takes clean notes for H.E., so I was hoping you could get them for me."__

"Sure, sure! What time should I swing by? What's your room number?"

Reborn told him both, and after wishing his friend a speedy recovery and promising he'd be there at the appointed hour, Tsuna hung up. He felt significantly better now, knowing that Reborn wasn't laying in a hospital somewhere, or expelled for doing something unexpected. A head-cold though, of all things! He shook his head and went to get another cup of coffee.

* * *

><p>Four in the afternoon found him knocking on the door of 4E, two buildings over from where he lived. After a few quiet moments he heard the sounds of shuffling, and the door opened a bit. Dark eyes peered out, and Tsuna smiled. "Hey Reborn. Brought the notes like you asked. How are you feeling?"<p>

Reborn sniffed and undid the chain on the door. "Better, but still icky. Thanks, Tsuna."

"Sure thing. You need me to bring you anything else?"

"Nah, I'll be okay. I've got a couple canisters of soup I can heat up, and a heating pad. I'll be okay as long as I stay in bed and don't push myself too hard. Thanks, though."

"Alright, I'll see you in a couple days then. Have a good sleep!"

"Thanks. Study hard."

"I will!"

* * *

><p>As predicted by the nurse, it took Reborn another two days to finally get back to class. They only had repeat lectures during the days, so Reborn never missed anything. Tsuna didn't give thought to handing his notes over, not even when Reborn slid into his seat and the class began. Reborn didn't return his notes immediately, but that was fine. Tsuna made his way through the exams fine, never noticing that the looks Reborn gave him whenever they met up had changed, and that Reborn was beginning to ask more personal questions outside of the notes.<p>

He didn't mind though. He was happy Reborn was back and he had someone to talk to again, and happier still when the exam period came and went, and both of them passed at the head of the class. He was so happy in fact, he did something rather reckless.

"Hey Reborn, you want to get a coffee with me? My treat."

Reborn turned from where he'd been talking with a group of girls, and for the first time, Tsuna __saw __there was something in those dark eyes, and it was directed at __him. __He shivered.

The "something" vanished as quickly as it had been there, and Reborn was shrugging and coming towards him. "Sure, sounds fine. I pick the place, though."

They left the campus and went to get coffee from one of the local shops. Not unexpectedly, there were a __lot __of small businesses built around the college, and about one third of them were coffee shops. As they picked up their orders and sat down on one of the tables, Tsuna found his eyes drawn back to Reborn. He flinched back, just a little, when he found Reborn __staring __at him. "Um, is something wrong?"

Finally Reborn broke the silence. "So, how long have you been crushing on me?"

Tsuna did __not __snort coffee up his nose, he was proud to say. But he did pause very momentarily, as panic and thoughts like __ohshitohshitohshit __overwhelmed him. Would Reborn hate him now? What if Reborn was homophobic? Would he spread it over the college?

__No. __Somehow, Tsuna didn't think Reborn was the type of guy to do that to a person. If he didn't like the attention, he'd tell Tsuna straight. So he sipped his coffee, and thought back. "A bit before the end of the second year, I think, if the end of the second year itself."

Reborn nodded slowly, still not taking his eyes off Tsuna, even as he picked up his drink and sipped from it. Tsuna found a question on his tongue. "What gave it away?"

From out of his bag, Reborn drew the notes. He pushed them forward, and flipped to a page, tapping the margins. There were the doodles. Tsuna couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "I completely forgot about those! Yeah okay, not my best move."

Reborn's lips twitched in a half-smirk. "Certainly not subtle. The doodles aren't bad, though. Not exactly artist material, but not bad either."

"Thank you." He tucked the notes back into his bag, somehow feeling lighter. "So, what happens now? Do you want me to stop?"

Reborn was silent for a long time, his head turned off to the side, his gaze distant. Tsuna waited, sipping the last of his drink and throwing the Styrofoam cup away.

"No," Reborn said at long last. Something in Tsuna's stomach flipped at that, only to flip again when Reborn turned to him and __smirked. __"I don't."

"Okay," he replied, just slightly breathless. Reborn didn't hate him, or the attention he had garnered. "Um, then what—?"

"Let me take you out on a date. A __proper __date, not something between classes." Reborn waved his hand impatiently. "You're not the first guy I've dated, but you're the only one that's caught my attention like this. I'd like to see if we've got something to go off of, and if we do, well…" His smirk softened. "We'll see, won't we?"

It was Tsuna's turn to smile. "Yeah, okay. I think I'd like that. Thanks, Reborn."

"Hm. We'd better get back to class. What's your schedule for Saturday looking like?"

* * *

><p><span>Author's Notes<span>

Prompt comes from Bookwormgirl2 on tumblr, who got it from OTPPrompts. So I'll credit both. A college AU! Forgive me if details are incorrect, I know nothing about college, let alone colleges in Japan. I did a bit of quick research, but I could be wrong. So feel free to correct me.


End file.
